Mining system.



G. G. HUGHES & .I. F. McDUFFlE.

MINING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-3,19l2- 1,22 1 ,BUW Patented Apr. 10, 1917 2 SHEETS4SHEET I.

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G. G. HUGHES 61]. F. McDUFFlE.

MINING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3. I912.

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pairs GEORGE GRIFFIN HUGHES AND JOHN FLACK MCDUFFIE,

OF BESSEMER, ALABAMA.

MINING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 3, 1912. Serial No. 669,294.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Gnonen G. HUGHES and JOHN F. MoDUrrm, citizens of the United States, residing at Bessemer, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mining Systems, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present-invention is to facilitate the removal of coal, ore, and other material from mines.

The question of labor is of great moment with mine operators and a machine which will decrease labor would be of the very greatest value. At present the ore, coal, and other material, which is taken from mines, is loaded on tram cars by hand, necessarily taking a great deal of time, increasing the cost and greatly endangering life, on account of the number of people so employed.

As is well. known there are two systems of mining in use in the United States. These are known as the long wall sys tem, and the room and pillar system. In the long wall system, the mine is laid out in blocks of from 800 to 600 feet wide and the whole block is worked out at once, taking everything and leaving no support for the top except the timber which is placed there for that purpose. This system is used in mining very thin veins of coal.

In the room and pillar system headers are driven substantially at right angles to the slope leading to the surface, and rooms are worked substantially at right angles to these'headers. The rooms are from 25 to 50 feet wide with a pillar of coal or ore between each two rooms tosupport the top.

It is in the room and pillar system that our machine is particularly designed to work. The manner in which our invention is carried out is given in the following description in connection with the appended drawings in which Figure 1 shows a diagram of the room and pillar system; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a room and our machine; Fig. 3 is an elevation of our machine; and Fig. 4 is a modification of our machine.

In Fig. 1 a slope is shown on the right and a header leading therefrom. Several rooms are shown leading from this header. It is obvious that there may be as many headers and rooms as desired. Their number, as well as the number of slopes, is gov erned. by the circumstances of each case.

for tram cars in the slope and header. There is also a second track laid in the headers and extended into the rooms for the purpose of carrying the machine from one room to another and also for carrying it into each room. There may be as many lines of tram track as desired with suitable crossovers for switching from one to another.

In Fig. 2 is shown the machine in position to enter a room. It will be noted that the room is inclined at 30, but it is obvious that it might be at any angle, or level. The track supported on column S runs longitudinally of the header and passes in front of the rooms. This track may be placed 011 the ground as in Fig. 4-. On this track run the wheels E which carry sections of track B. These sections carry a bridge Z and mounted on this bridge is a trolley consisting of motors, cable, drum and bucket, etc. The detailed arrangement of the motors for propelling the wheels E, the bridge Z and the trolley are not shown, but they are shown only diagrammatically since these details form no part of our invention, but we do claim to be the first to use independent means for obtaining three independent directions of movement for an excavating means such as the bucket A as described hereinafter. The sections of track remain on the track S, while the bridge is arranged to go into each room on a track H laid therein. The bridge is propelled into the rooms by means of a suitable motor in conjunction with the rack K and pinion P, or any other suitable means. The short sections of track B may be alined with the track H in the rooms thereby permitting the bridge to pass into the rooms. The machine is so constructed that it will pass clear of the pillars.-

The trolley carrics'the bucket or shovel A for scooping up the coal, ore, or other material, and this bucket is hinged at one end to the member C on the bridge Z and the other end is operated up and down-by the tackle and cable R which passes around a suitably driven drum. It will be noted that the bucket is so arranged that it can be loaded and unloaded with a very small head. That is to say, it is suspended underneath the trolley and s0 hung that it can be forced forward to load and can then be unloaded Without being hoisted higher than the trolley track. This is of very great advantage for the reason that the hanging wall of As shown in Fig. 1 there are tracks laid-i dthese rooms is usually comparatively low.

Patented Apr. 10, 191'}.

V hind and the The means for carrying the material from the bucket to the cars is shown as a trough 0, but any equivalent means may be used with equal results.

As seen in Fig. 3 the trolley may move from one side of the room to another on the beams G Gof the bridge Z, so that material may be gathered from any point in the rooms.

In Fig. a is shown a modification of our machine, the only change being that of placing the wheels E at the bottom of columns Sso that they are driven on tracks A which are placed on the ground alongside the tram tracks. The advantage of this is obvious, it being much cheaper to place the track on the tram ties than to construct an elevated track. The tram track is placed between the rails on which the machine runs. In this arrangement the machine is propelled by a suitable motor connected through any suitable gearing. The details are not shown as they are not a part of our invention and would only complicate the drawings.

The operation of the system as follows:

The machine is run along the tracks S on thewheels E by a suitable motor until it is brought into proper position in front of a room. The bridge Z carrying the trolley then goes into the room on the tracks H and carries with it the bucket A. The front end of the bucket is loweredso as to come into contact with the materialto be removed and isthen forced forward by means of a suitable motor until the bucket'is loaded. The front end isthen elevated and the bridge runs back to the proper place and empties thecontents of the. bucket into the trough O which empties into the tranrcar'N. Then the machine may load other cars from this room, or it may come back onto the sections of track B and the whole machine be moved over tothe neXtroom and a similar operation performed. When the train is loaded it is carried to the surface in the usual way.

From the above" it is seen that three in:

dependent directions are obtained by as many means, that is, the l fi1gitudinal directionalong the headenthe direction into the room of the bridge Z, leaving the track bedirection of the trolley in the 7 room which is independent of the bridge.

' Gopi es of'this patent may :be obtained for It will be understood, of course, that many modifications of the above described ar rangementwill suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, but it'must be understood that'we do not confine our invention to the specific construction andarrangement here fxcept n so far as it is limlted by 1 ,221,seo

Having described our invention, what we claim is 1. In a system of the character described, a slope, headers and rooms, tracks in same, a second track adjacent a plurality of said rooms and on a level with the entering end of said room tracks, means mounted on said second track capable of passing from one room to another and entering each room for taking material therefrom and means mounted on said first named track, for receiving and conveying said material to the surface.

2. In a system of the character described, a slope, headers and rooms, tracks in same, a second track in said headers, and on a. level with the entering end of said room track, means mounted on said second track capable of being moved longitudinally of said headers, longitudinally of said rooms and transversely of said rooms for removing material from any portion of any of said rooms and means for receiving and conveying said material to the surface.

3. In a system of the character described the combination of a slope, headers and rooms, a track therein, a second track in said headers, the entering end of the room tracks being on a level with said second track,

power-propelled means mounted on said secbridge tracks transversely of said rooms and a bucket carried by said trolley and adapted to remove material from any point of any of said rooms.

4. In a system of the character described,

a slope, headers and rooms, a track in same,

a second track in said headers, the entering endof the room tracks being on a level with said second track with the ma1n portlon of .said room track at an incline to said second track and means capable of entering on said room track and removing material from said rooms.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE GRIFFIN HUGHES. JOHN FLAOK MoDUFFIE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

